GUIDELINES FOR TREATING HYPERTENSION - IMPROVED CARE OR RETARDED PROGRESS

A number of national and international bodies have published guideline s for the management of hypertension. Although there is general agreem ent on certain aspects of treatment, there are also significant differ ences (for instance, in the threshold blood pressure for drug treatmen t, the target blood pressure, and selection of drugs for initial monot herapy). Apparent consensus has been reached despite absence of defini tive evidence and despite overlapping membership of some groups respon sible for the guidelines. The composition of guidelines for nonexperts is a valuable exercise but ifs limitations and potential dangers shou ld be clearly defined.